Abstract

Inspiration is at the very beginning stages of the design process and is arguably the most challenging aspect of the process to teach in the classroom. Content analysis is a method often used in historic research, in which themes are identified for a specific time period. Visual content analysis of apparel fashion for a specific time period was used in an apparel design course to better prepare design students for moving through the design process from inspiration to their own designs. This teaching module helped students to identify fashion trends, fostered research skills, promoted understanding of historic trends, and provided a simplified design process model in which inspiration became a more concrete concept. By simplifying the inspiration process students were more confident when approaching their design work.